Will we get two more years for emissions compliance?

The EPA proposes to delay air-quality rules on portland cement for two years, which just might give the industry more time to recover from the economy.

By Tina Grady Barbaccia, News and Digital Editor

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may give operations a reprieve with its proposed amendments to air-quality rules that the agency set in 2010 to regulate cement manufacturing.

A proposed delay in implementation of more stringent air-quality standards may allow operators more time to invest in costly plant improvements.

In late June, the EPA proposed delaying implementation of the rules of the portland cement National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPS) and New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) by two years, from 2013 to 2015. The rules are intended to limit toxic emissions that occur naturally in the production process, according to the Portland Cement Association (PCA).

The EPA and industry representatives contend that postponing implementation will give businesses already struggling because of the economy more time to comply with the costly changes, according to a July 5 report in the Daily Journal of Commerce.

However, according to the report, environmental groups argue that implementation is already 10 years overdue and that further delay will result in thousands of deaths.

Andy O’Hare, vice president of regulatory affairs for the PCA, notes that the industry does not have any issues with implementing emissions regulations, but he says the timing is not ideal with the current economy.

Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

He also points out that the EPA’s proposed amendments would change the way particulate matter is monitored and could significantly reduce the economic damage — to about $2.5 billion, according to the report.

“Although the EPA has proposed to do this [delay the date], they haven’t finalized it, so we still have a ways to go before it is a done deal,” O’Hare tells Aggregates Manager. “EPA is planning to finalize it in December. We won’t know until then about the final decision, but we are certainly hopeful. The industry certainly needs it.”

Cement consumption is way down from previous years, he says. “It’s about 35 percent off from 2005,” O’Hare says. “A good number of U.S. cement plants are sitting idle or operating way below capacity. We think this additional time will accomplish a lot of things.”

O’Hare says it will allow the companies more time to save to make the necessary investments. However, even with a two-year delay in implementation, “the rule is still quite challenging,” he says. “The industry will need to give significant investment [to comply].”

Even with compliance, O’Hare says there will still be significant emissions coming out of cement plants. By providing more time, it will benefit the environment in the long term, he says. O’Hare also told Aggregates Manager that there is pending legislation being lobbied in Congress that would provide three years for compliance. “That legislation is not likely to pass with what’s going on in Congress,” O’Hare says. “If we don’t get the result we want in December, we’d be contemplating more legislative relief with Congress.”

The alternative, O’Hare says, is U.S. cement plants closing. “Whether or not we like it, we’ll end up having to import it from other countries,” he points out. “In many cases, most countries don’t have environmental standards we have or [the cement] would be produced in an inferior way. I don’t think Americans want to be a party to that.”

Birmingham, Ala.-based Vulcan Materials Co., the largest provider of aggregates, has a single cement facility in Florida. “We believe it is appropriate that U.S. EPA’s proposed amendments to air-quality rules include a two-year extension before implementation,” John English, manager of Vulcan’s public affairs, tells Aggregates Manager. “This would give the industry sufficient time to evaluate options for compliance. With respect to Vulcan’s single cement production facility, we are in the process of evaluating our facility’s status relative to the future compliance requirements.”

For more information

What are National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAPS) and Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs)? NESHAPS are stationary source standards for hazardous air pollutants. HAPs are pollutants that are known or suspected to cause cancer or other serious health effects, such as reproductive effects or birth defects, or adverse environmental effects, according to the EPA. For the NESHAPS Air Toxics Compliance Monitoring website, go to

To get daily news updates from AggBeat Online, scan this tag with your smart phone.

Legislation speeds development of fed land for ‘strategic and critical minerals’

The House of Representatives, on July 12, passed legislation 256 to 169 that would speed development on federal lands of strategic and critical minerals, including aggregates, by limiting review time for drilling permits and requiring concurrent rather than sequential consideration, the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) reports.

Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) introduced the bill, H.R. 4402, the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act. The legislation requires the secretaries of agriculture and the interior to develop domestic sources of minerals of “strategic and critical importance,” the NSSGA reports.

According to the text of the bill, this would include “minerals that are necessary…to support domestic manufacturing, agriculture…and transportation infrastructure.”

The current average timeframe for acquiring permits for domestic mine development on federal lands is seven to 10 years, according to the text of the bill submitted by Doc Hastings, (R-Wash.), chairman of the Committee on Natural Resources, “This delay puts the United States at a competitive disadvantage with other mineral-rich countries and leaves it more dependent on foreign sources of minerals and mined materials, including rare earth elements.”

Hastings and his committee note in the bill’s text that the United States is nearly 100-percent dependent on China for rare earth elements, even though the U.S. has economic deposits of these mineral resources and, at one time, had the largest market share in the world.

“H.R. 4402 builds on successful highway legislation and Administrative guidance on permitting procedures for infrastructure and renewable energy projects by requiring the lead agency to coordinate and effectively communicate with all cooperating agencies, project proponents, and other stakeholders. Furthermore, the bill eliminates duplicative analysis, provides for timely filings for litigants, and allows 30 months for the lead agency to prepare, consider, and reach a decision on permitting for mine development,” according to the bill.